Dante vs Alex Mercer
by Insieme per la vittoria
Summary: Alex Mercer attacks Dante in his office, and the two titans battle to the death. Who will be the victor? Virus or Devil?


**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Prototype or Devil May Cry.****  
****Dante vs Alex Mercer**

Dante and Trish looked up from their pizza as Lady walked into the Devil May Cry agency. Trish turned to face her, a slice of pizza in her hand. "Well, well, well. To what do we owe this most distinctive pleasure? You need Dante and me to do your job for you again?" Ignoring the two of them, Dante started to reach for the last pizza slice, when he became aware of an unfamiliar, and most repugnant smell. He looked at Lady, appearing disinterested, but his mind was racing. By now, he knew Lady's scent better than he remembered his own, and there was not a trace of her usual scent on her.

Lady approached the desk, leaning on it next to Trish. Lady started to reach for the last pizza slice, which was directly between her and Dante, when suddenly her arm transformed into a tendril and lashed straight at Dante's heart. Having been expecting something like this, Dante grabbed the tendril before it reached him, pulling the demon that had disguised itself as Lady forward and gripping its throat. The demon's other hand grew large claws and swiped them at Dante, but Dante vanished in a red blur, and the claws simply shredded his empty chair. Dante rapidly picked up his sword and guns, and turned to face the demon.

Trish was already lying on the floor unconscious, having been struck in the head with the demon's shoulder when it had lunged across the desk at Dante. She would have easily withstood the hit normally, but she had been weakened by a fight with a large gang of unusually strong demons earlier that day. Lady's form faded, to be replaced by that of a tall, pale man in a grey hooded jacket with a black leather jacket over the top.

The man charged at Dante, swinging his clawed hands at the Devil hunter. Dante easily defended himself using his sword, deflecting all the demon's attacks with time to spare before driving his sword into the demon's chest. For several seconds, the two adversaries stood still, before the demon's claws were replaced with a massive blade, which he swung at Dante. Dante vanished, appearing behind the demon and firing a bullet imbued with Devil energy into the back of its head.

The demon spun around, the fist-sized hole in its face already closing, and struck at Dante again with the massive blade, which Dante blocked with his sword. The two huge blades let off sparks as they ground against each other with enough force to knock over a building. The ground the two monsters stood on started to split apart from the sheer force the two were exerting. Dante leaned slightly forward. "Tell me something, big daddy silverware. What kind of demon are you? I've never met a demon capable of assuming a specific person's shape that was also capable of turning itself into various pieces of oversized cutlery." The demon's other hand turned into a large, organic hammer, which it swung at Dante's face.

Dante leapt away, sliding across the floor. The demon advanced, its hammer turning into a bladed whip. "I'm not a demon, you fucking moron. I'm a virus. My name is Alex Mercer, and as for my shape shifting abilities, I can turn into anyone, as long as I consume them first." Dante narrowed his eyes, uncertain whether or not to believe what Mercer was telling him, and at the same time hoping he had misheard.

Smirking, Mercer went to the door, where Lady's motorcycle waited outside. Mercer reached into the weapons compartment and removed the two halves of a weapon Dante knew only too well: Lady's personally designed rocket launcher, the Kalina Ann. Smirking sadistically, Mercer held up the two pieces and threw them to Dante. Dante caught them, looking very shaken, his eyes filling with tears. Mercer took advantage of the momentary distraction, wrapping his tendril around Dante and pulling him over. Mercer stabbed Dante through the chest with his blade, before wrapping his tendrils around Dante and using both them and the blade to cut him to pieces, the razor-sharp blades struggling to cut through the Devil hunter's amazingly sturdy body.

Mercer attempted to consume Dante's genetic code, but for some reason he couldn't. Despite Mercer's efforts, Dante's demonic blood was impossible to consume. Just as Mercer realised this, there was a flash of red energy, and the pieces of Dante's body flew back together in an instant, turning into the parts of a red and black Devil rather than a man as they did so. The blast of energy staggered Mercer, and vapourised his tendrils and his blade. Mercer looked up to see a seven foot tall, red and black winged Devil, with a powerful aura of red Devil energy around it, and a murderous glare in its glowing red eyes.

Mercer started to advance, but with an inhuman roar, Dante charged into him, grabbing Mercer with razor sharp claws and taking flight, shooting straight up into the air, his Devil energy burning a hole straight through the concrete ceiling as if it were paper. Mercer started desperately attacking Dante with every weapon he had as the red Devil carried him into the sky, moving faster than a bolt of lightning. Despite Mercer's best, most desperate efforts, his attacks were completely useless, as the field of Devil energy surrounding Dante's demonic form proved impenetrable, even for Mercer.

After only a few seconds, Mercer became aware of a change in gravity. He looked around him to discover that Dante had flown him into outer space. Due to the Devil energy that had been burning him all the way up, Mercer hadn't even noticed when they passed through the atmosphere. Mercer looked with terror into the glowing eyes of the Son of Sparda, which, by contrast, were filled with nothing but cold, grim determination.

The red Devil energy around Dante intensified, burning Mercer with more power than he had ever encountered. Mercer watched in horror as his body started to get vapourised by the energy. Mercer hardened his skin, transforming into his armoured state, so that he looked like a dark grey demon made of organic metal, but it was no use. Mercer's armoured state was solid enough to deflect anti-tank rounds, but Dante's Devil energy burned straight through it, the viral armour not even slowing the energy down. After several seconds, the energy had done its job, completely erasing Alex Mercer from existence, not leaving so much as a cloud of ash behind.

Trish came to just in time to see Dante, in his Devil Trigger state, drop back in through the hole in the roof. "Did you children have fun?" She asked playfully. Dante didn't answer, reverting to his human form and heading upstairs to his bedroom. Trish followed him up, and found him lying on his bed with his back to her. Her highly sensitive demon ears heard faint sobs. "What is it?" She asked, serious now. Dante didn't answer, but the sobs stopped.

Trish stepped back out the door." If you like, I'll leave you alone. Whatever's wrong, you might find crying gets it out of your system." Trish prepared to close the door, but heard Dante say something she couldn't quite make out. She leaned closer to hear better, asking him what he had said.

Without turning around, Dante said, "I said I'm not crying. Devils never cry."


End file.
